The Importance Of The Soviet Union

In his 1945 biennial report to the U.S. Secretary of War, Chief of Staff George C. Marshall inscribed, “In good conscience this Nation can take little credit for its part in staving off disaster in those critical days. It is certain that the refusal of the […] Russian peoples to accept what appeared to be inevitable defeat was the great factor in the salvage of our civilization” (107). The resolve of the Russian people was tenacious and unequivocal; undeterred by the callousness, destructiveness, and indomitability of the Wehrmacht (German armed forces). Despite this, many suspected that the Soviet Union would capitulate within months of the commencement of Unternehmen Barbarossa (the German invasion of the Soviet Union); including Winston…show more content…The first being that the atomic bomb would have been employed in the annihilation of the German Reich; and the second being that the German exploitation of the former Soviet Union would have been greatly hindered by organized resistance groups throughout the former Soviet Union. First of all, the atomic bombs that were dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki were dropped from Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, not intercontinental ballistic missiles. With the redeployment of the German Luftwaffe (air force) to the Western Front, it’s improbable that the United States would risk dropping “Fat Man” or “Little Boy” on the German Reich. Especially after Albert Speer revived the research and development of Wunderwaffe (wonder-weapons) like the Wasserfall Ferngelenkte Flakrakete – a modified V-2 rocket used as a surface-to-air missile – and the Messerschmitt Me 262 “Schwalbe”. Therefore, the United States would likely elect to use Japan as a demonstration of the destruction of the atomic bomb just as it had in this timeline as a deterrent for any future aggression shown by the Axis powers. As for resistance movements, many of them, such as the French Forces of the Interior, were highly motivated by the prospect of liberation in 1944. However, they often lacked the proper equipment to strike at German supply depots, convoys, and other strategic targets. When they did strike, it was often against the Osttrüppen (eastern troops), who were unmotivated and poorly equipped in comparison to the Wehrmacht. Not only were they poorly equipped, but the Germans planned to deport and exterminate the majority of the Soviet populace and to promote anti-intellectualism amongst the rest. The Reichssicherheitshauptam (Reich Security Main Office), an administrative agency subordinate to the Allgemeine SS (General SS) and Heinrich Himmler, was appointed to

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